NRA Petitions Court to Lift Ban on Handgun Sales to Teens

The National Rifle Association is petitioning the Supreme Court to lift a decades-old ban against the sale of handguns to young people under the age of 21.According to The Hill, the gun lobby is appealing a lower court ruling, arguing the current law violates the Second Amendment rights of people younger than 21 and contradicts a 2008 ruling allowing the carrying of handguns for self-defense.

"Individuals above the legal age of majority cannot be denied any meaningful ability to purchase the quintessential means for exercising the core individual right," the NRA says in its petition to the court, referring to what it calls the "fundamental right to keep and bear arms."

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit had ruled that people younger than 21 "tend to be relatively immature and that denying them easy access to handguns would deter violent crime."

"As with felons and the mentally ill, categorically restricting the presumptive Second Amendment rights of 18-to-20-year-olds does not violate the central concern of the Second Amendment," the court ruling continued.

According to The Hill, the court noted that it is legal for adults under the age of 21 to buy other types of firearms, including rifles and shotguns. It is also legal for parents or guardians to give their 18-to-20-year-olds handguns. There are also no laws barring either the possession or use of a handgun by adults under 21, the court also noted.

It's unclear whether the Supreme Court will take up the case, but UCLA professor Adam Winkler told The Hill it's unlikely the justices would rule in favor of the NRA since lower courts have consistently upheld the current law.